Courage the Cowardly Boy
by CTNsMainB
Summary: This is a story about how Muriel finds a dumpster baby and raises him as her own. She home schools him until Highschool. He has no other choice than go to Nowhere High with his cousin Fred. This is a CouragexKatz fic.
1. Chapter 1

This story starts no other than in Nowhere. This peaceful place in Kansas used was the hot spot for all the young couples. Where all the newlyweds ran off to lay their nests, but that was 30 years ago when Eustace and Muriel were still young adults. Muriel didn't know how to make a blueberry pie and had a perfect hourglass figure, and Eustace had a head full of hair and a smile plastered on his young face and muscles only a working man would have. They found a little run down cottage with plenty of room for the dozens of kids that Muriel wanted and the profitable fields that Eustace wanted. They went right to work on their little fixer-upper. It already had a barn and chicken coop in the backyard. The barn needed the roof fixed and the coop needed new chicken wire but the house came with one laying hen and two fertilized eggs ready to incubate. Eustace fixed up the house while Muriel made it a home with a new red-hot sitting chair for Eustace and a beautifully crafted rocking chair for Muriel to practice knitting in.

Whenever Eustace and Muriel weren't plowing the fields or fixing diner they would be trying to make a baby. A few years passed by and there was still no babies or a pregnant Muriel. You could physically tell how this effected the Baggs family. Eustace started loosing his hair and the fields weren't flourishing has they had years earlier. The lack of motivation effected Eustace at his job as a mechanic. He went from being a full-time employee to a part timer in the time of those year. His boss had told him it was so he could have more time on his farm but Eustace knows that they were sick and tired of the rookie mistakes he kept making, and shouldn't have been as someone who had worked on cars since her was eight.

It even seemed like the town itself was slowly dying out. After another year of hopeless trying for pregnancy Muriel knew they needed to try something else. Something in the newspaper perked Muriels interest when she saw that a new Doctor by the name of Dr. Vindaloo had recently moved to town. Muriel told Eustace that they should see if the doctor could help them have the children they always wanted. Eustace grunted in compliance muttering about how he didn't want no test tube baby. Muriel smiled and fell into her husbands lap hugging him. "Thank you, Eustace." She whispered breathlessly in his ear.

"Get off me women. I can't see me paper." Eustace complained with a small smile. Muriel giggled and pecked him on the cheek running off to the kitchen to make his favorite meal. The whole house seen to brighten with the new glimmer of hope. Eustace even started humming to whatever was playing on the radio until Muriel caught him. He blushed and muttered about how women should be in the kitchen cooking, not spying on their husbands.  
Muriel finally got to see Dr. Vindaloo after waiting three months. The wait was unbearable but the doctor had so many new patients that was the soonest he could see her but Muriel wished she hadn't wasted her money on the visit. She walked into the bland waiting room, alone, picking up Farmers Monthly off of the glass table. She wished that Eustace would have come with her but he refused. He just kept telling her "I ain't getting out of this chair." with a grim expression on his face. No matter how hard Muriel tried to coax him he wouldn't budge. He told her there were things from him to do around the house anyway. Muriel couldn't think of what. She had cleaned and fed the chickens, cleaned the house, checked the fields, and even had time to make a peach cobbler. She pressed him further on what he was going to be doing while she was at the doctors but Eustace was as tight lipped and stoned face as ever.

A beautiful Indian nurse steps into the waiting room and calls Muriel's name causing her to snap out of her rerun of the day. Muriel got up to meet her new doctor. In this moment Muriel realizes that she hasn't been to the doctors since she was eight in Scotland when she had the Chicken pox. The nurse directs her to another bland room but this one was smaller and had medical supplies in it. Muriel plops down on the wax paper covered exam table. The Nurse checked Muriel's weight, blood pressure, and asked her a list of questions such as: Do you Smoke? If so how much a day? Are you currently sexually active? Are you pregnant or could be pregnant? The last question stung a bit but Muriel answered them all with a smile on her face. She just wanted to get to fixing her to have a baby. After all the nurses questions had been answered she left to get Dr. Vindaloo.

A tall Indian man walked in looking at some charts, shaking his head, they were not the same as the ones that the nurse had.  
"What are you lookin' at?" Muriel asked as soon as she realized that the charts were different.

"That is the worst case of chicken pox I have ever seen." The Doctor muttered to himself closing the chart. He looked up at Muriel seeing her worried expression. "There's nothing to worry about. It's nothing at all. Nothing at all." He stuttered, trying to reassure her. Muriel shifted on the wax paper underneath her.

"Er, yeah, uh..." Muriel really wished that her husband was with her right now.

"You're here because you have been trying for children and you can't conceive? Not at all. Not one bit." Muriel could not tell where the man was looking because of his over grown eyebrows. He slowly rose his eyebrows questioning if Muriel was going to answer his question.

"R-right." Muriel stuttered blushing slightly. She now understood why the man let his eyebrows grow to such a length. His eyes were beady and small enough to make anyone uncomfortable. The Doctor then put on some latex gloves and started probing Muriels abdomen with his cold hands. He shook his head and then left the room. He quickly came back with a nurse who copied his last movements, probing Muriels abdomen. She also gave her head a little shake and started talking to the doctor in another language. "What?" Muriel begged. She wanted to know what was going on with her body.

"There's nothing I can do, nothing at all." Dr. Vindaloo finally said readjusting his purple tie. Muriel stared at the man. He wasn't allowed to say things like that. He was a doctor. He had to fix her problem.

Muriel sat there in shock as the doctor explained how she could not have children. Her body was "dangerous for the child". As soon as Dr. Vindaloo had explained what was happening in Muriels body he told her that her only option was adoption. There was no cure for her problems. The doctor had to excuse himself so that he could attend to another patient but left the nurse to stay with the crushed Muriel to answer any other unanswered questions. "Is there anything I can do for you? Anyone I can call to come and get you?" The Indian nurse asked politely.

"Didn't you hear dear?" Muriel answered sadly. "No one can help me." Tears started leaking out of Muriels eyes and the nurse handed her a tissue.

"I will give you some time. Please sign out with the receptionist when you are ready to leave so that we will know when this, uh, room is, um, unoccupied." The nurse barely got out, choking down her own tears. Muriel sat in that room for what felt like hours before she decided to head back to the waiting room. She thanked the receptionist, with dried tears down her cheeks, and said she was finished with the room she was in before. She signed a piece of paper, still in a daze, then turned to leave. Sitting in the pickup truck Muriel relived the last couple of hours and the doctors words of encouragement towards adoption rang through her head. She shook them out, she knew that wasn't an option. The government wasn't going to give her the baby she wanted. She and Eustace didn't make enough money with her as a stay-at-home-wife and Eustace as a part-time mechanic, part-time farmer.

Muriel came home to her husband still in his over stuffed red chair. She said nothing to him and he nothing to her as she slowly made her way to the kitchen to make a cup of tea. It wasn't until Muriel left the living room that Eustace looked up from his paper. "Muriel?" He questioned worriedly. Something was wrong and it made Eustaces stomach knot up . What if Muriel comes in and tells him that it must be his fault. That it must be his fault they can't have children. That everything came back fine at the doctors. That he was impotent. That he was useless at yet another thing. It wasn't like Eustace wanted something to be wrong with Muriel, he just didnt want there to be something wrong with him. He didn't want something so important to Muriel to be his fault. Eustace shook the selfish thoughts from his head. There was something wrong with his wife and Eustace wanted to help her. The problem is that Eustace isn't the best at putting his feelings into words. Eustace folded his well-read newspaper and sets it on the arm of his chair. He cautiously makes his way to the kitchen like he is about to enter a war zone. "Muriel?" He calls softly as he opens the door. Eustace Baggs will never forget the scene he walked into that day. Muriel was sitting in the corner of the kitchen silently crying while whispering "Why won't anyone help me?" Her scolding hot tea was slowly pouring into her lap, the kettle still whistling in the background. Eustace just stared at his broken wife in complete shock. His mind was blank. He could hardly speak his feelings how was he suppose to clean up this melt down Muriel is having in the middle of the kitchen. Muriel slowly turned her head as if she was just noticed Eustace.

"Oh, Hello dear." She said with empty eyes. "Would you like a cup of tea?" Muriel offered Eustace her now empty tea-cup.

"Er, no thanks Muriel. Are ya okay?" Eustace asked knowing the answer to his question.  
"Hrm? Oh, yes, of course." Muriel answered distantly.

"Uh, what did the doctor tell ya, Muriel?" Eustace asked kneeling down to Muriels level offering her a hand. Muriel suddenly snapped back to reality looking at Eustace with pained eyes.

"It's me Eustace." Muriel choked out, fresh tears falling down her cheeks. In that moment Eustace took back everything he had said about not wanting it being him. He would rather have this be his fault and face his mother than watch it tear his wife apart. Eustace picked his wife up from the ground and cradling her to his chest.

"M'sorry Muriel." Eustace whispered into Muriels ear. "I shoulda been there"

Muriel looked up at her husband and saw something for the first and last time. Eustace crying. He carried Muriel upstairs to the bathroom where he slowly emerged her into the luke warm bath water, not to cause her anymore pain on her newly created burns on her legs. "Eustace." Muriel whispered sadly but oozing affection.

"Shhh." He hummed. "It is my turn to take care of you."


	2. Chapter 2

Everywhere Muriel went she seemed to see babies, she would even catch herself going down the baby isle in the grocery store. One time she almost bought a pack of newborn diapers until she came back to her senses, sadly giggled to herself as she returned them to the shelf. Muriel found herself buying more vinegar than she could use. It soon became her "secret ingredient" and she would put it in just about everything she made. The secret was that she wanted everyone to taste the slight sourness that she tasted in her mouth everyday since the news. Whenever people would ask her why she would add vinegar to he already perfect dishes she would respond with, "That is how my wonderful Auntie taught me, bless her heart." No one seemed to ever ask her further but some tried to tell her to leave it out.

Eustace has always been a grumpy man. But since the terrible day, which neither Muriel nor Eustace ever speak of, he had become worse. While Muriel was gone that day Eustace fixed up a baby room in the attic, he fixed the leaks in the roof and a broken window to make sure that the room would be fit for his future child. He went out and did something Eustace never did. Spend money. He bought a crib, blankets, bottles, diapers, and even a computer for when the child got older. He painted the room an eastery yellow and built a white wooden crib, matching changing table, and set them up on the left side of the room. He hung a mobile with little blue ducks, purple dogs, and red cats that spun above the crib. He got Muriel a second rocking chair so she could rock their future baby to sleep in the comfort of its bedroom. The room was stocked and waiting to be used but ever since the news Eustace has wanted to destroy it. He wanted to smash the crib, rip up the blankets, throw out the formula, and crush the mobile with the stupid dogs and cats and ducks on it. He wanted no memory of the baby Muriel and he were never going to have; he would rather sit in his chair and pretend it was never an option; pretend children weren't a reasonable thing that couples did but that wasn't what Muriel wanted. Muriel was the kind of person who held on to hope until the end and if Eustace destroyed that room all he would be doing is help further destroy his wife. So, the room had been untouched since the fateful night, it stayed in the house as a kind of memorial to their unborn child.

On November 12, Muriel decided to take a trip into town because Eustace was in a particularly bad mood and Muriel wanted to make him her famous happy plums but she was fresh out of vinegar. This was her first time in months making the trip back into town, it seemed emptier than usual. She was on her way to the grocery store when she heard a faint cry coming from a dark alley, Muriel jumped from the truck not giving a second thought to what kind of predators could be lurking in the shadows. She squinted trying to make her eyes adjust to the darkness faster when she smashed into a large dumpster, the crying suddenly became unbearable, and she looked down and saw an almost purple baby boy lying naked in the garbage. Muriel gasped with such force it hurt her throat, "M'lord!" she barely got out. She pulled off her tan jacket and wrapped the purpling boy in it. "Oh my... you brave boy." She cooed with tears of shock pooling. She ran to the truck and turned the heat up as high as it would go. She could not believe that someone could treat a guiltless child like this. She looked down at her new found prize with tears in her eyes, "You are such a brave boy" she whispered to him slowly rocking him back and forth. The baby grabbed Muriel's finger with his almost frozen fingers and melted her heart. "I won't let anyone do this to you again." She sternly looked down at the boy. She sat in the truck just humming and warming up the boy when she looked down at the boy and said, "I think I will call ya Courage."

Muriel was sweating by the time she had gotten home; Courage had gone from slight purple to a deep pink by the time she had made it back to the farmhouse. He was sleeping soundly in Muriel's arms, she didn't enter the house right away even though she was uncomfortable sitting in the overly warm truck. She seemed to be waiting for something, for this to be a trick, for her little miracle to disappear from her arms. She wasn't allowed to have children and finding Courage seemed too convent. After a while she snapped back to reality and turned off the truck making her way back into the house ignoring Eustace's curious eyes and cries for attention. She ran upstairs into the untouched baby room and found an onesie, bottle, formula, blanket, and diaper. She quickly ran to the bathroom to start a bath then dashed to the kitchen, not letting Courage leave her side, to start on the formula. As soon as the water was warm Muriel mixed it into the bottle to make milk and gave it to the oh-so-willing baby as she rushed back upstairs to the bathroom where the water was still shallow enough for the baby to bathe. She fed and bathed Courage at the same time, two birds with one stone, but mostly because Muriel wanted courage to be as comfortable as possible. She didn't want to be in pain like he was not even two hours ago. She wanted to fill him up with love and wash away his old life as quickly as she could. Courage looked up at Muriel with big brown loving eyes. As soon as all of the filth was washed from Courage Muriel took him from the bath and dried him with their softest towel. Courage was so comfortable that he was slowly drifting off to sleep; Muriel took the full, tired, wet baby to his room. She dried and clothed her new baby when Eustace finally found her. "What are ya doing woman?" He said louder than necessary. Muriel whipped her head around and gave Eustace a giant shush while he stood there with his chin almost hitting the floor. "Where'd ya get that?" Eustace stared in disbelieve at the baby sleeping in the crib he had built.

"Found the poor thing in the dumpster." Muriel said sadly while she looked loving down at Courage.

"Well put him back. He aint ours." Eustace said with anger to cover up his sadness. Muriel turned around and slapped Eustace with the full force of the spin.

"How dare you." She said in a hushed tone covered in anger. Eustace just stood holding his freshly slapped face. This was the first time that Muriel had really hit him. She had hit him before but in a joking-loving way, but never in the face and never with such raw emotion. "This poor baby boy was almost dead, covered in not only his filth but also whoever's filth was in that dumpster. How dare you say to put his back there?" You could tell that Muriel was holding back tears. Eustace quickly changed his emotion from shock and sadness to nothingness.

"M'going to bed." He said with dead eyes, feeling angry for getting slapped but also ashamed. He made his journey to their bedroom and just laid there; he wasn't tired but also was not up to going back down stairs. He felt heavy and sad. Muriel had never been so unloving. After what felt like ages Muriel finally entered her and Eustace's bedroom, Eustace didn't want to face her yet, he wasn't done licking his wounds. Muriel made her way over to the bed when Eustace was curled into a loose ball. As she sad down her hip brushed against his knee, she placed her hand affectionately on his hip. "Ged'off me women." He snapped as he rolled over so that he would be facing the door instead of his wife.

"Oh Eustace." Muriel exhaled quietly; he could be such a child. But she knew that man she married quite well and knew he meant no harm, just thinking before he spoke. Muriel made her way downstairs and pulled out chicken from the fridge and started battering it up and threw it into a hot oiled up pan. She was cooking legs and stared cooking them early so that they would cook through to the bone. That was the trick to fried chicken, getting it to be cooked all the way through without burning the skin. Muriel then grabbed a sack or red skinned potatoes, washed them, and threw them into the pot. She then started washing and snapping green beans. Time to flip the chicken, and then Muriel was back to the green beans, tossing them into a small pot to boil. Muriel always enjoyed cooking a good meal.

By the time Muriel finished cooking and made two plates she could hear foot steps in the living room, Eustace must have smelled the chicken frying. Eustace slowly made his way to the kitchen table and started eating, between bites Muriel could swear she heard an 'I'm sorry' from Eustace. Muriel looked up and smiled at him, "We have quite an adventure before us, don't we dear?" And then returned to her dinner.


End file.
